Help us bag a share of Tesco’s bag fund

Emmaus Salford is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

Emmaus Salford is one of the groups on the shortlist. The charity is appealing for votes to help people who are street homeless feel warm, safe, sound and happier by supporting the creation of The People’s Pods overnight accommodation at the Emmaus Salford community.

“The People’s Pods will offer 12 people who are street homeless a warm and safe refuge to stay on a temporary basis. Emmaus will provide food, refreshments, showers, clothes, washing and toilets from our existing community building. We really need your vote so we can get this up and running as soon as possible and help vulnerable people this winter.”

Simon Locke, Community Director at Emmaus Salford

Voting is open in all Tesco stores in November and customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop. You can vote for Emmaus Salford’s People’s Pods project at the Tesco Extra stores in Salford, Irlam and Walkden as well as the Tesco Express stores at Liverpool Road, Monton, Partington, Pendlebury, Salford Quays and Swinton.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £60 million to more than 18,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

“Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”

Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco

“Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s National Chief Executive

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp